Doctors in Uttar Pradesh call off strike, judicial commission set up

Junior doctors of Uttar Pradesh today called off their six-day strike after Uttar Pradesh government today transferred the SSP of Kanpur and set up a one-member inquiry commission to probe the assault on the medicos in Kanpur.

"We honour the High Court's directions and withdraw our strike. We trust the court and hope its order will be followed in letter and spirit. We want fake cases of junior doctors in Kanpur should be withdrawn. We hope we won't have to resort to agitation", Kings George Medical University Junior Doctors Assocation President Aditya Patel told PTI.

Doctors in Kanpur withdrew their strike against the attack on their colleagues there, a day after the UP government clamped ESMA against the striking medicos and the Allahabad High Court stepped in to resolve the deadlock.

Aarti Lal Chandani, IMA Kanpur head, said the strike has been called off and she has joined duty. Reports from Gorakhpur said junior doctors there too have called off their strike, while in Jhansi the doctors are also set to end the agitation.

Twenty four junior doctors, who were arrested in Kanpur in connection with the clash with police and supporters of a SP MLA, have been released and efforts would be made to convince them to return to work, Lal Chandani said.

Principal of the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College Naveen Kumar said normalcy would soon be restored in the College. The six-day strike, which hit medical services in several parts of the state, was called to protest the assault on the medicos at GSV Medical College by Kanpur police and supporters of SP MLA Irfan Solanki following an altercation.

Amidst reports of deaths in different districts of the state due to the strike, UP government yesterday decided to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act against the striking doctors. The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court had yesterday directed UP government to transfer SSP, Kanpur, Yashaswi Yadav, and other officials involved in the February 28 clash.

However, as of now, no other official has been shifted, official spokesman said in Lucknow.

Following the HC order, Yadav has been transferred and attached to the DGP office in Lucknow. The HC also ordered a judicial probe into the incidents in Kanpur and in compliance with that, the state government constituted a one-member inquiry commission headed a retired judge to probe the incidents at the GSM Medical College in Kanpur and at a petrol pump nearby on February 28. "Retired judge R M Chauhan has been entrusted with its responsibility and the Commission would have its headquarters in Lucknow while its camp office would be in Kanpur", Principal Secretary (Home) Anil Kumar Gupta said.

The Commission would investigate the events at the medical college and the petrol pump and submit its report in three weeks time to the government, he said. The Commission has been entrusted with the responsibility to find out the cause and ascertain the facts in relation to the incidents as also to ascertain the appropriateness of the measures taken by the authorities and their efforts to handle the situation, he said. The Commission would also give its suggestions on fixing responsibility with regard to the incidents and set limits as also ways and means to check recurrence of such incidents in future, he added.